1. Field of the Invention
Invention relating to devices used to assist agricultural operators to accurately mix and dispense inputs and record relevant data. Specifically, the invention relates to feed mixers, seed tenders, and herbicide, pesticide, and fertilizer mixers as well as farm management activities and software for analyzing and tracking related data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As technology has advanced, the agricultural community has taken advantage of the opportunities afforded by those advances. Computer programming is now as important to many agriculturally oriented operations as the physical machinery. For example, livestock operations include tracking of feed intake per animal versus weight gain and records all medication or other inputs as well. Grain producers use global positioning interfaced with customized databases to record herbicide, pesticide, and fertilizer applications along with variety and seed treatment data.
As in most businesses, higher efficiencies and precision accuracy will increase the success of agricultural operations. Specifically, many operators wish to reduce the time required to re-load a planter. Many planters now use a single seed bin rather than a separate bin for each row on the planter. Operators often use GPS to record start and stop areas when planting a certain variety. Some operators use a blower to blow seed from a transport container to a planter thereby reducing time to load planter. Many also pretreat the seeds before bringing them to the field. The pretreatments require mixing sometimes of small amounts of potent chemicals into larger amounts of other chemicals or carriers.
After seed is in the ground, many different conditions may occur. Any one of these conditions may indicate the need to apply fertilizer or herbicides. Operators often use a recipe including multiple chemicals and a diluent all of which must be accurately metered, mixed, and recorded before dispensing. In addition, an operator may alter that recipe according to certain conditions such as weather, precipitation, time of day, etc. However, these alterations are typically determined at the time the operator is mixing the batch and are determined by the operator. Previous batch mixers did not include fully automated adding and mixing or allow for dictating a combination of manual and autoloading while recording and taking into account all relevant data. Further, the operator-determined and created batch included many opportunities for error including leaving out a component or adding incorrect amounts of a component or failure to take into account all of the factors in play prior to creating the present batch. As an added issue, mixing small amounts of chemicals presents it own issues. Each chemical or ingredient has its own container and, when emptied, the container typically has chemicals remaining in it. Often the chemical has settled and adheres as a gummy or sludgy substance in the bottom of the container. The material or chemical also remains in part in the tanks or other vessels into which the chemicals and materials are weighed or loaded. Further, mixing chemicals requires emptying multiple containers. The chemicals are expensive and difficult to measure. Measuring vessels must also be rinsed adding to the difficulty . . . .
Operators of livestock setups are also faced with record keeping challenges relative to inputs. Reduction in time required to measure and mix additives to feed and a method to record the amounts, ratios and identity of recipient livestock is crucial to the stewardship of herds. However, feed mixers are not often equipped to track herd identifiers relative to source of input or to automatically apply a particular ratio in a mix according to the herd identifier and predetermined criteria associated with that herd. Further, the inventory of feed source and additive sources were difficult to manage.
What was needed was a basic and transportable structural and programming framework that can mix, measure and record inputs for batch production in grain crop planting and growth applications as well as livestock feeding in order to save time and increase the accuracy of data recordation. Further, this framework needed to include capabilities for application of predetermined criteria to tailor a predetermined ratio of inputs according to real time or near real time conditions as well as relative to the conditions of the receiving organisms. Finally, the framework would need to be equipped to store and/or transmit all data to other systems in order to assist in full farm management activities.
There was also a need to include in the apparatus specific means for assuring that all materials or chemicals were voided from their original containers and from the apparatus when the final mixture was transferred. Clean containers will meet EPA rules for disposal. It is also likely that, in the future, these containers will not be disposed of but, rather, will be returned to the source. Such return is likely to be aided by RFID technology, or a similar identification and tracking tool, in order to identify the container and its original contents. This same information may also be available to the recipient of the full container for accurate tracking of identity, lot numbers, etc. A framework or station having the ability to accept this data provided either electronically or manually, and clean the containers prior to return would offer many advantages for accurate mixing, tracking, validation and reporting.
A need further existed for a mixing station that would be compact and either stationery or portable, as required, and that would serve to assist in the complex and highly accurate mixing of materials. The station would add further benefit by providing mechanisms for full clean out of the station and any containers in which the materials have been stored.
The first objective of the present invention is to improve the accuracy of recording inputs relative to geography;
A second objective of the present invention is to improve the accuracy of proportionate batch mixing through computer-aided measurement;
A third objective is to improve time efficiencies of mixing and loading inputs from transporter to applicator;
A fourth objective is to record relevant data pertaining to mixing and amounts of inputs relative to inventory management for download or real-time communication with pre-existing farm management data collection tools including historical analysis, work order creation, and planning;
A fifth objective is to allow automated adjustments of predetermined input ratios according to specified criteria such as weather, herd condition, time of day, weed growth, disease pressure, wind speed, etc., and to record all such criteria along with the batch ratio actually mixed along with time, date, herd identifier, and geographic coordinates;
A sixth objective is to reduce or eliminate human error in determining the appropriate ratios of inputs, creating the appropriate mixtures, and recording all relevant data;
A seventh objective is to provide a mechanism for consistent and substantially complete removal of materials from their storage containers, and tracking of all rinse materials;
An eighth objective is to provide a stationary mixing station including mechanisms for accurate measuring and clean out capability taking into account final mix ratios and, for a portable station having the capability of compensating for effects of slope on weight readings;
A ninth objective is to provide a way to identify and store identifying information regarding materials in a container, the container sources, and the use of materials in the container and its status as new/used/rinsed. Associating the use with data, time, location of application or weather conditions is also an objective of the present invention.
Additional objectives includes means to report and record rinse records with returned containers and for reporting obligations to regulatory agencies.
A final objective is to automatically identify containers and operators.